Two flat, off-road routes carry most of this list. The Royal Canal Greenway comes in from the east, climbing the eight-lock Killucan Flight 2 km north of Killucan village before running level for the next 27 km; at Mullingar it meets the Old Rail Trail, the 43 km former railway line to Athlone that gives Castletown Geoghegan, Streamstown and Moate their walking. Streamstown falls roughly midway, with a café in the old station and a short Bee Pollinator Trail alongside.
The rest are shorter and more local. Knockeyon, above Crookedwood, is the one real climb: 214m on the south-eastern shore of Lough Derravaragh, up through native woodland past the footings of a medieval chapel to a summit cairn and trig pillar. There is usually a bull in the fields, so take that seriously. Portlick Forest, near Glasson and about 8 km north of Athlone, is a 5 km loop of replanted native hazel, ash and oak down to the Lough Ree shore, with shorter options; the low-lying paths flood easily, so wellies often earn their place. Milltownpass and Kinnegad are both bog walks, the first a 1.2 km gravel path through protected raised bog, the second a 5 km loop of boreens.
Nothing here demands a hard day. The Westmeath Way, 33 km from Kilbeggan to Mullingar by the River Brosna, Lough Ennell and the canal towpath, is the longest single line on the page.
The Royal Canal Greenway passes 2 km north of this limestone market village, climbing the eight-lock Killucan Flight before running level for the next 27 km.
Better known as the M4 and M6 services stop, but pull off and there is a 5 km Boreen Bradach loop and the restored Mount Hevey raised bog.
At 214m the county's third-highest point, reached by a well-trodden woodland track past a medieval chapel site to a cairn above Lough Derravaragh.
A Norman motte still rises behind the main street, and the town sits directly on the 43 km Dublin to Galway Greenway beside Dún na Sí heritage park.
One of Ireland's 16 People's Millennium Forests, with a 5 km loop through native hazel, ash and oak down to the Lough Ree shore.
10 of 11 shown — tap a pin for the place.
Killucan, westmeath
Killucan is a small Westmeath market village whose main street of early-19th-century limestone was cut by two local stone masons for Lord Longford. Its draw now is the Royal Canal Greenway, 2 km north, which climbs through the eight-lock Killucan Flight before running level for the next 27 km.
Kinnegad, westmeath
Most travellers know Kinnegad only as the M4/M6 services stop 60 km west of Dublin, but pull off and there's a 5 km Boreen Bradach walking loop, the restored Mount Hevey raised bog, and a church whose stations of the cross still carry Black and Tans bullet holes.
Crookedwood, westmeath
Knockeyon rises to 214m on the south-eastern shore of Lough Derravaragh, the third-highest point in Westmeath. A well-trodden track climbs through native woodland past the footings of a medieval chapel – the site of an old August pilgrimage – to a summit cairn and trig pillar. In winter the lake below holds one of Ireland’s largest common pochard roosts. Mind the bull.
Moate, westmeath
A Norman motte still rises behind Moate's main street, and the town sits right on the 43-km Dublin–Galway Greenway. The main reasons to stop are the greenway itself and Dún na Sí, a 27-acre heritage park with a reconstructed ring fort and a seasonal turlough on the edge of town.
Glasson, westmeath
Portlick is one of Ireland's 16 People's Millennium Forests, replanted around 2000 on the eastern shore of Lough Ree, roughly 8km north of Athlone. A 5km loop with shorter options threads through native hazel, ash and oak down to the lakeshore, passing the ruins of Whinning House and the still-occupied Portlick Castle. There's a free car park and toilet block, but the low-lying paths flood easily, so wellies earn their keep.
Dublin, dublin
The Royal Canal Greenway is the longest in Ireland – 130 km of level towpath from Maynooth to Cloondara, where the canal meets the Shannon. It follows a waterway built between 1790 and 1817, past working locks, stone bridges, the reputedly haunted 13th lock at Deey Bridge, and cafés in Maynooth, Enfield and Mullingar.
Kilbeggan to Mullingar, westmeath
A gentle 33 km waymarked walk from whiskey-making Kilbeggan to Mullingar, following the River Brosna, the shore of Lough Ennell and the Royal Canal towpath. It passes Lilliput, the lakeside townland said to have lent Swift the name for the little people of Gulliver's Travels.
Castletown Geoghegan, westmeath
Dublin, dublin
Milltownpass, westmeath
Streamstown, westmeath
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